WYOMING, MI – Loretta Walton spent about three decades on the forefront of anti-crime efforts on Grand Rapids' Southeast Side, fostering a community where residents lived peacefully and looked out for one another.

In her efforts to unite neighbors and cut crime as former president of the Madison Area Neighborhood Association, Walton said she never experienced racism like the racial slur that was scrawled on her door last weekend at a Wyoming independent senior living community.

Walton, 66, fears an escalating threat after returning from church Sunday, April 6, to an abbreviated version of the N-word accompanied by "move" written in large letters on the door of her Aurora Pond apartment.

"It's so sad," Walton said. "I have fought the battles on the Southeast Side. I never encountered anything like this."